Excel: Introduction to Formulas
Table of Contents
Formulas
Arithmetic & Comparison Operators .................................................................................................. 2
Text Concatenation ............................................................................................................................. 2
Operator Precedence .......................................................................................................................... 2
UPPER, LOWER, PROPER and TRIM..................................................................................................... 3
& (Ampersand) .................................................................................................................................... 4
SUM..................................................................................................................................................... 5
ROUND ................................................................................................................................................ 5
COUNT................................................................................................................................................. 6
IF.......................................................................................................................................................... 7
Anchoring rows/columns with $ sign .................................................................................................. 7
Combining Formulas From Multiple worksheets ................................................................................ 8
Practice Set ........................................................................................................................................................ 9
Formulas
Arithmetic & Comparison Operators
Arithmetic & Comparison Operators
Operator
Meaning
Example
Result
+
Addition
A1+B1
Numeric Value
‐
Subtraction or Negative
A1‐B1
Numeric Value
*
Multiplication
A1*B1
Numeric Value
/
Division
A1/B1
Numeric Value
=
Equal to
A1=B1
Logical Value (TRUE or FALSE)
>
Greater than
A1>B1
Logical Value (TRUE or FALSE)
<
Less than
A1<B1
Logical Value (TRUE or FALSE)
>=
Greater than or equal to
A1>=B1
Logical Value (TRUE or FALSE)
<=
Less than or equal to
A1<=B1
Logical Value (TRUE or FALSE)
<>
Not equal to
A1<>B1
Logical Value (TRUE or FALSE)
Text Concatenation Operators
Text Concatenation Operators
Operator
&
Meaning
Example
Connects, or
concatenates,
multiple
values to
produce one
Want to combine the values in
continuous
columns A‐C. I added a space, via
text value
the space bar, so the words would
have a space between them.
Result
The
shows what the formula in
D1 looks like. You can see the value
in D1 has the two words combined
nicely.
Operator Precedence
If you combine several operators in a single formula, Excel performs the operations in a specific order,
described below. If operators within the same formula share the same precedence Excel then defaults
2
from left to right. The user may change the order by which calculations are performed by using
parentheses.
The following is an example of why the precedence needs to be understood and why it is important:
Formula
=5+2*3
Result
Calculation
11
(2 times 3) plus 5
=(5+2)*3
21
(5 plus 2) times 3
Operator Precedence
Operator
Meaning
* and /
Multiplication and Division
+ and ‐
Addition and Subtraction
&
Text Concatenation
=
Equal to
<>
Not equal to
<=
>=
Less than or equal to
Greater than or equal to
UPPER, LOWER, PROPER, and TRIM
These formulas all work with text. After using one of these functions it is good practice to paste
special\values so that they will remain in their desired formatting.
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2
3
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UPPER, LOWER, PROPER, and TRIM
Formula
Description
=UPPER
Converts all text to upper case
=LOWER
Converts all text to lower case
=PROPER
Capitalizes the first letter in a text string and any other letters in
text that follow any character other than a letter, i.e. a space.
Converts all other letters to lowercase
=TRIM
Removes all blank, unnecessary spaces at the start and end of a
string including extra spaces, tabs, and other characters that
don’t print.
& (Ampersand)
The & connects, or concatenates, multiple values to produce one continuous text value. After using this
function it is good practice to paste special\values so that they will remain in their desired formatting.
The finished product I want is to have Shasta County in one cell which I can accomplish with the &
function. By combining the values in columns A and B I have accomplished my desired task, but quite
literally. Note there is no space between the two words in cell C1.
By adding a column to the right of column A and pressing the space bar once, creating a single space , and
modifying my formula to now include columns A – C, I now have a more readable result.
Notice there is no space
between the two words.
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Note if your data consists of
several rows you would
need to copy the blank
space in B1 all the way to
the last row.
SUM
The SUM function is the singularly most used function within Excel. It is used to total values in your
worksheets. These values may be continuous, noncontinuous, from different worksheets, etc, or a variety
thereof.
The syntax is =SUM(number1,[number2],[...])
An example of the formula is =SUM(A1:A4). The English translation is add up all of the values found in the
range of between A1 and A4, inclusive, and displays the result.
Add up the values in this range
And place the result here
Notice that I have one extra line within my formula. I do that on all of my formulas as a best practice. If I
need to add any additional rows, by doing so above the blank row, I am ensured my formula will properly
be modified automatically.
There are many variations to this formula, this is just one example.
ROUND
The ROUND function rounds a number to a specified number of digits. This should not be confused with
formatting to a specified decimal places.
The syntax is =ROUND(number, num_digits)
Expanding our previous SUM formula from above, the formula is =ROUND(SUM(A1:A4),2). The English
translation is add up all of the values found in the range of between A1 and A4, inclusive, round the result
to two decimal places, and display the result .
It is important not to confuse rounding to a specific number of decimals and formatting your cell to a
specific number of decimals. For example, if cell A5 below contains 18.44978. If we were to format the cell
to two decimal places, 18.45 will be displayed. However, Excel still sees it as 18.44978 (Before picture). If I
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want Excel to see, and use in subsequent calculations, 18.45 I would need to have the following rounding
formula in A5: =ROUND(SUM(A1:A4),2) (After picture)
Without ROUND Formula
With ROUND Formula
COUNT
The COUNT function counts the number of cells that contain numbers and counts numbers within the list
of arguments.
The syntax is COUNT( value1, value2, …)
Continuing on with our SUM formula from above, let’s not only add up the values of the range A1:A4, but
let’s count how many numbers are included within the range, i.e. how many cells within the range has a
value in it.
The formula is =COUNT(A1:A4). The English translation is count how many cells within the range has a
value in it and display the result.
Notice that the range is exactly the same as our
SUM, A1:A4, which includes four rows. The value
returned in cell A7 is three, because only three of the
four rows have values in them.
If you are trying to count text, use the COUNTA formula which counts the non‐blank cells.
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IF
The formula makes a statement/question, if the answer is true then one response is obtained. If the
answer if false, then another answer is obtained.
The syntax is =IF(logical_test,value_if_true,value_if_false)
Continuing on with our SUM formula from above, let’s add some verbage to emphasize whether the result
is greater or less than twenty.
The formula is =if(A5<20,”Amount is less than twenty”,”Amount is more than twenty”). The English
translation is if the value found in A5 is less than twenty THEN display the comment ‘Amount is less than
twenty’ ELSE display the comment ‘Amount is more than twenty’.
Anchoring Rows and Columns With $ Sign
As formulas are copied either the column reference increases or the row number depending on the
direction of the copy. If copying to the right through the spreadsheet, the column reference will increase;
if copying down through the spreadsheet, the row references will increase.
In order to overrule the automatic increment, place a dollar sign in front of the reference that you don’t
want to change, the column, row, or both.
Anchoring Rows and Columns With $ Sign
Source
Formula
=SUM(A1:A4)
Action
Copy formula one cell
to the right
Destination
Formula
=SUM(B1:B4)
Effect
Column references
increased from A to B
and A to B
=SUM($A1:A4)
Copy formula one cell
to the right
=SUM($A1:B4)
Column references A
stayed constant at A and
increased from A to B
=SUM(A1:A4)
Copy formula one cell
down
=SUM(A2:A5)
Row references
increased from 1 to 2
and 4 to 5
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=SUM(A$1:A4)
Copy formula one cell
down
=SUM($A$1:$A$4) Copy formula
anywhere within the
spreadsheet
=SUM(A$1:A5)
Row references 1 stayed
constant at 1 and
increased from 2 to 5
=SUM($A$1:$A$4) Neither column nor row
references changed
Combining Formulas Between Multiple Worksheets
Data can be pulled from other worksheets and utilized on others. This function can be used for both
numerical and text data. The formulas can combine one to many worksheets are ranges.
For Example, this is extremely handy when one worksheet acts as a summary and recaps information from
the detail worksheets. Our example below recaps sales on one sheet, while the monthly detail in
maintained on other sheets.
Note the worksheet names of Summary, Jan, Feb, & Mar. We are working within the Summary worksheet,
denoted by the tab color. The curser is in cell D6 which receives its information from the January
worksheet.
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PRACTICE SET
Using the data on the staff mileage data tab, perform the following steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Insert rows and add the header. Change the font size to 12. Make bold and italize.
Bold, underline, word wrap, and center headers.
Sort employee data lines, skipping the budget row by employee name and date
Using the PROPER command clean up the employees names.
Using the SUM formula add totals to the adopted, revised, and actual columns.
Add the top and bottom border to the sums.
Add REMAINING BALANCE text and do a basic subtraction formula calculating the difference
between the revised budget total and the actual to date.
Add ‘NUMBER OF TRANSACTIONS TO DATE’ caption. Using the COUNT formula count the number
of transactions.
Add a new column entitled ‘Remaining Balance (Revised vs Actual). Using basic subtraction
calculate the remaining balance on a per line basis.
Your final product should look like this:
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